“A” won the vote almost unanimously this week, so we are going to:
A) Stick around and try out your Good Cop (or, ahem, perhaps this calls for Bad Cop) skills on Neil.
It’s about time the new boy delivered the goods:
Wait, what did he say?
“Now you want to talk?” You- reluctantly- pull your arm from Neil’s grasp, but don’t take that step away from him.
He just looks at you. “Well?” Cute or not, this boy is officially on your nerves.
Neil sighs, and runs a hand through his hair. “I – I want you to know, I’m just trying to protect you.”
That’s it. Time for Bad Cop. You throw your arms up in exasperation. “Protect me from what?!!!!! Why don’t you stop being cryptic and effing TALK to me?!!!”
Neil is not as shaken as you’d hoped by your outburst. Instead, he looks kind of sad. ”You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
You grab his upper arm and pinch. Hard. He looks up at you in shock and horror- and not a little anger. “What was that for?!”
“You said we need to talk, so TALK. I’m SO through with all of this cloak and dagger stuff.”
Wow, I should get frustrated like this more often, you realize. You haven’t stumbled or stuttered or made a fool of yourself once.
Neil takes a deep breath, and, not looking at you, speaks.
“I’m a vampire.”
You do what any sane person would do. You laugh. That laugh ends in a snort. Oops, so much for cool. But then Neil looks you in the eye, and you realize that he’s not joking around.
“What was that?” Your voice cracks.
“Vampires are real. I am one of them.” Well, holy crap. His eyes continue to bore into yours, and as images of Kayleigh’s neck wound flash through your head, your knees feel a little weak. However, you didn’t win best friend protector of the year award 5 years in a row for nothing, so your balled-up fists make contact with Neil’s -very firm- chest.
“What did you do to Kayleigh?!!”
Neil grabs your wrists and holds them against him to stop your flailing, and calls your name. “Nothing! I didn’t do anything to Kayleigh! That’s why I’m here! To stop what’s going on!”
“What?” you so eloquently ask, more than a little breathless from your exertion.
“I’m here to stop Heather and Finn from whatever it is they’re doing.”
“What are they doing, exactly?”
Neil lets go of you and turns away, frustrated. ”I don’t know.” He bangs his fist on the counter. Whoah, there, big boy. “But it involves Kayleigh, now… and you.”
Gulp.
Just then, Jacob comes back into the kitchen- out of breath. “Kid sister got so fast, I couldn’t catch her.” Then he notices Neil for the first time. “Who’s this?”
The boys stare at each other for a beat, scowling- both of them puffing out their chests a tiny bit. Part of you thinks thinks this behavior is stupid, and part of you wishes they’d just take off their shirts and wrestle a little bit.
They both turn to look at you, and your cheeks flush.
“Um, Jacob… Neil. Neil… Jacob.”
“What the hell is going on? What’s happening to my sister?” Jacob directs his question at Neil.
Neil just turns to look at you.
“He deserves to know.” And you wouldn’t mind continuing this conversation, either.
Just then, your phone rings. You fumble it out of your pocket and see that it’s Finn calling.
Do you:
A) Answer the phone. You know Finn’s involved with this somehow.
B) Ignore the call and make Neil explain to both you and Jacob what he DOES know. It’s time to bring some college experience to the, uh, table.
C) Tell Neil it’s Finn calling you, and ask him if he thinks you should answer it. Maybe now with him on your side, you could both figure this out.
Cast your votes and tune in next Monday for the next installment of FYA’s Choose Your Own Adventure!
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
HOLY FREAKING SHIZZ!!!! new boy delivered the goods and HOW!!
although i wish there was an option D for that, um, shirtless wrestling idea.
i vote for A. i like the fact that we, as the collective protagonist, have gone from awkward girl to sharp shooter. find out what finn wants, then you can discuss it with neil (and jacob) afterwards.
I vote A as well! I mean, do we REALLY trust Neil? Or is it just cause he’s so hot that we’re swayed to his side? Maybe he’s lying and Finn’s the one who’s good! Or maybe they both suck and Jacob is the only awesome one? Or maybe all three guys have an agenda and we latently realize that we’re actually lesbians and run off with Heather. WHO KNOWS.
Wow, these decisions are starting to get hard! I’m kinda glad I missed the last couple of rounds of voting!
I think I’ll go with C, followed by getting Jacob and Neil all on the same page. So maybe that’s C followed by B? Decisions, decisions!
B! college experience on the kitchen table! er … i mean, get some input from jacob. yeah. i’m still annoyed with finn and his cocky “oh, i have emerald green eyes and write cute little notes so you MUST swoon over me” attitude. plus, i don’t want to lose track of the two hotties in the kitchen, and answering the phone might give them an excuse to run.
but really, i totally vote for posh’s option D …
i LOVE where this story is going.
I could not handle all 3 at once, even if one is just on the phone. I’d totally ignore the phone and go with B.
I’m all over option Jacob…er, I mean option B!
I remember reading CYOA books when I was in Middle school and High School. I used to peek ahead at the options and then pick one. I back tracked a lot and would mark pages I had read so that I could flip through quickly and find pages I hadn’t read and then figure out how to get to them. Now that I said that out loud I really sound lame.